MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Hakim McMorris had spent more than an hour sitting alone, far away from everyone else, stewing over his earlier performance. Only one thing could make him forget the sting of disappointment he had felt in his first race Friday at the Middle Tennessee State University track.
In his final competition of what had been a long day and a grueling week, McMorris finished strong by winning the Division II state championship in the 300-meter hurdles. That win bookended his decathlon state title to begin the week and also made amends for the 110 hurdles earlier Friday, when he clipped the final hurdle and fell to the track, dropping from second to a sixth-place finish.
“It was really hard mentally to run that last race, just because I was still so upset with myself from the 110s,” said McMorris, who competed in four events Friday, with a second-place finish in the triple jump and a fourth in the high jump. “I pushed myself too hard to try to catch the leader and got out of my rhythm, and it cost me.
“I threw my medal and my shoes to the ground and just sat by myself thinking. I didn’t want to have to talk to anybody else. I needed some time alone to get myself mentally ready to come back strong.”
Arts & Sciences freshman Brevin Sims was impressive in his two events, winning the Class A/AA title in the 110 hurdles in a photo finish over Page’s Michael McMahan and finishing second in the 300 hurdles.